If I Had a Daughter
Chapter 3/8
After having pondered many things over breakfast, Yang Chen couldn’t imagine what Lin Ruoxi was going to say to Rose. So, he tried his best to not think about it.
He drove to the company building and took the elevator to his office. When the door opened after arriving at the office floor, a figure whom he hadn’t seen in a while appeared.
Dressed in a formal suit, a high spirited An Zaihuan was standing by the window. He seemed to be in an immensely good mood while he hummed. On the other hand, An Xin the supposed secretary, was nowhere to be seen.
An Zaihuan quickly turned around when he heard the sound door open. Seeing that Yang Chen had arrived, he immediately revealed a sincere smile as if he was meeting his relative, causing the wrinkles on his face to appear.
“Director Yang, I’ve been waiting for a while.” When An Zaihuan spoke, he bowed slightly.
Yang Chen found it funny. He lazily walked to his chair and sat down before inviting An Zaihuan to do so as well. “You’re waiting for me in my office. Uncle An, is that not the least bit weird to you?”
“Yeah, yeah. My mistake. I’m a little nervous to have to disturb Director Yang so early in the morning,” An Zaihuan said smilingly as he pulled a chair over before sitting down.
Yang Chen couldn’t stand An Zaihuan’s flattering att.i.tude. Technically, this man was An Xin’s father, which meant he was one of Yang Chen’s father-in-laws. However, there was no way in h.e.l.l that he would pay respect to this senior. At least, not to someone who was willing to sell his own daughter. Moreover, ever since he met him, he had never done anything of value before before.
Yang Chen felt that the man’s greatest achievement in his life was giving birth to a great daughter.
“Now that Uncle An has taken over the Liu clan’s Jade Clouds Corporation, i’m quite sure that you must have a million and one things to do. You came to my office this early. Is getting nervous your only objective here?” Yang Chen asked straightforwardly.
An Zaihuan quickly shook his head. Being an experienced businessman, he could tell that Yang Chen didn’t have much to talk to him about. He said, “It can’t be said that I’m busy all day. While I do have work to do, it is usually the occasional thing or two. Many of the a.s.sets owned by the Liu clan are quite terrifying. After all, swallowing everything a decade-old major clan owned required quite some effort. Actually, I came with a question for Director Yang today.”
Yang Chen frowned. Why didn’t he ask An Xin to ask me instead? Is he trying to improve upon our relations.h.i.+p?
“It looks like something really important. Otherwise Uncle An wouldn’t have come over personally at this hour, am I right?” Yang Chen asked.
An Zaihuan smiled stiffly. Clenching his teeth, he spoke softly, “Director Yang, I heard that you were related to Liu Qingtian from Green Dragon Society.”
Yang Chen squinted his eyes. Quietly, he stared at An Zaihuan in an indifferent manner.
Liu Qingtian was naturally Liu Mingyu’s father whom he had met just a few days ago, another father-in-law of his.
The man who had been in Beijing for the majority of his life owned an underground syndicate called Green Dragon Society. Yang Chen had vaguely heard about it before, but he wasn’t interested in digging deeper into it.
Rose was partnering up with Liu Qingtian to expand their powers in the underworld, while Yang Chen didn’t ask about any information specifically.
Currently, Yang Chen felt confused when the seemingly unrelated An Zaihuan suddenly asked about Liu Qingtian.
An Zaihuan felt a chill up his spine when he was gazed upon by Yang Chen that way. He had long witnessed Yang Chen’s terror back in Hokkaido. If it wasn’t because he was completely helpless, he wouldn"t have showed up in front of Yang Chen. He was aware that Yang Chen didn’t find him pleasant. Yang Chen answered, “We’re related in a way. But more importantly, who told you?”
An Zaihuan sighed. Forcing a smile, he said, “I feel slightly guilty at how it happened. A while back, President Liu came looking for me. He hoped for the An clan’s financial groups to partner up with Green Dragon Society and Red Thorns Society. Of course, the partners.h.i.+p will only involve legal businesses.”
Yang Chen nodded. “It’s a good thing. There are certain things that underground syndicates can’t do publicly. To put it frankly, he’s just asking for your help in money laundering, while you benefit from the deal as well. What’s the matter then? Are you too afraid to accept the offer?”
An Zaihuan sighed. Smiling, he said, “To be honest, I was quite hesitant when accepting the offer. But the profits involved made my heart move.”
Yang Chen had more or less figured the situation out. The old fellow was willing to do anything one can imagine for money. It was just like he was eating the from the bowl but staring at the pot.
The partners.h.i.+p between Liu Qingtian and Rose would allow them to condense their underworld powers in Zhonghai and Beijing, allowing them to take on even larger a.s.sociations. The whole process wan’t cheap and required large amounts of funding from both sides. As a result, investing was the best choice.
However, neither Green Dragon Society and Red Thorns Society were financial experts. Hence, partnering up with a major financial group was their best choice. The incredibly wealthy An clan became their best target, not to mention the clan wasn’t involved in the government at all.
Having lived for so many years, An Zaihuan was as cunning as a fox. He was aware that the money laundering business meant enormous amounts of profits. Of course, he didn’t hope to let the thick, fat meat in his mouth fall.
However, he was faced with legitimate underground syndicates. If he had chosen to join the partners.h.i.+p, he would enter the blacklist of the government. Unlike j.a.pan, the underworld wasn’t legal. Unlike European and American countries, China had clear information about underground a.s.sociations. If the government wanted them to die, all they could do was hide in holes.
More worryingly, would Liu Qingshan keep his promise in the partners.h.i.+p? Laws were just words on a piece of paper to these people. If Liu Qingtian were to betray him, the An clan wouldn’t be strong enough to resist. “After meeting President Liu that day, I secretly sent someone to check his family background. I soon noticed that his daughter seems to have…” An Zaihuan’s forehead exuded sweat. He then let out a stiff smile before continuing, “A good relations.h.i.+p with Director Yang…”
Yang Chen said, “No need to be so nervous. I’m not short-tempered. That’s right, Mingyu is my woman. I’ve had a meal with her family before.”
“Then, we…” An Zaihuan looked at Yang Chen with high expectations.
Yang Chen shrugged his shoulders. “I understand what you’re trying to say. You may daringly partner up with Green Dragon Society and Red Thorns Society. I’ll show up if anything goes wrong. But Uncle Liu isn’t that kind of a person. He will never kill the hen to extract her eggs. Regarding Rose, you don’t need to be worried as well. She’s also my woman.”
An Zaihuan widened his mouth in shock. He just found out that the president of Red Thorns Society was one of Yang Chen’s women as well.
“What is it? Are you surprised?” Yang Chen asked with a smile.
An Zaihuan instantly shut his mouth before quickly shaking his head. He giggled before saying, “No, no no. It is normal for a man like Director Yang to have multiple wives. Only incompetent men would stay with one forever.”
Yang Chen withdrew the smile on his face and gazed upon An Zaihuan coldly.
An Zaihuan felt his heart tremble. He didn’t realize the mistake in his words.
“Uncle An, although I’m more h.o.r.n.y and have a lot of women, I’ve never once felt that a man who stays with only one woman is incapable. An Xin is your only daughter. Are you so dense to feel that she is better of with a man with multiple women? If I had a daughter, I’d definitely be dissatisfied if the man she sought wasn’t faithful to her. Whether I can do something about it will have to depend on my competence. At the very least, I don’t feel that praising this act is the right thing to do.”
Speechless, An Zaihuan was stunned for a while. He had his head lowered in silence.
“You may feel that I’m acting n.o.ble. What I’m doing is the complete opposite with what I just said after all. Believe it or not, this is what I truly think,” Yang Chen said and smiled. “I’ve finished saying everything I have in mind. I’ll send you off if there’s nothing else you need.”
“Aye, you don’t need to.” An Zaihuan hurriedly stood up and waved his hand awkwardly. He then walked toward the door as he said, “I’ll be fine leaving alone. Director Yang may continue with your tasks.”
When An Zaihuan opened the door, An Xin who was dressed in an office attire was coincidentally on her way in.
The father and daughter stared at each other for a moment. An Zaihuan then turned his head away and tapped An Xin’s shoulder before leaving.
An Xin entered the office and shut the door. Her fair-skinned face showed no emotions. After gracefully walking to the back of Yang Chen, she extended her arms and hugged his neck before leaning toward his face.
Yang Chen enjoyed the orchid-like scent. Taking a deep breath, he asked, “Why are you suddenly so artistic? This doesn’t look like your style.”
An Xin didn’t laugh for the joke but bit her lips instead. She said, “I overheard your conversation earlier.”
“Gosh, I didn’t know the sound proofing was so poorly done here,” Yang Chen said as he put up a gloomy act.
“Father had originally wanted me to ask you instead. I refused. On the contrary, I asked him to do it himself if he had the courage. I now feel that doing so is the right choice, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to listen to what you had said earlier,” An Xin said softly.
Yang Chen smiled and tapped An Xin’s cheek.
At this moment, Yang Chen’s phone which was placed on the table rang.
An Xin obediently let go of Yang Chen and delivered the phone to him.
However, An Xin revealed the look of a little vixen when she saw the name on the phone before looking at Yang Chen in a teasing manner.
Yang Chen rubbed his nose and picked up the phone. He then said, “Hi, Tang Wan, what’s up?”